Stitch

Better late than never!!! Yep, I tried them, can't remember exactly what for though as it was a while ago - I think it was the multi vitamin one to boost up a whelping bitch??? However what I do remember is that they were quite expensive and with no outstanding results.

Just wondering if anyone knows if there is a herb which is safe for dogs that stimulates their appetite?

Yes, Sandgrubber, I can imagine that Labradors probably wouldn't have this problem but smaller dogs do seem to!

Apart from all the other issues, have you considered that you may not even be able to find a boarding kennel with vacancies this close to Easter??? So your question may be moot!! Just a thought!

Thanks for all your suggestions. I may give the sandpit idea a try although his digging is such a random thing. I don't know that he really LOVES digging but I wish I knew what he was digging for!!! All I know is my OH gets REALLY crabby about his garden getting dug up. Me, I don't really care except for the fact that I have to clean it up and try to disguise it before the OH sees it!!! We can go for weeks without any digging and then - behold - the tiger pit with the plants scattered around it. I spent up big yesterday on buying some garden fencing for the OH's favourite garden patch so at least that's safe - Dobe won't jump even a little fence - however it is pretty much impossible to fence all the garden areas we have as the gardens cover about 1/2acre of our property. We actually already have an electric fence and really it would be perfect - one zap and he would remember but it would be very difficult to install around the gardens. Maybe a hot ribbon, I will investigate that too! Sigh!!!!!

If the dog repellants they market don't work, doesn't seem right that they can continue to sell them, does it????

I have a Dobe boy who for some unknown reason has started to dig tiger pits in various parts of our garden. He is 4 years old and has really never done this kind of thing much before, but now he has started. It is like he is chasing something then digging it out along with mature plants and shrubs. Nothing is safe from his digging skills and nothing is too big that it can't be excavated. Heaven only knows what it is he is chasing but my OH is very fond of his gardens and has threatened severe retaliation if the Dobe digs in his very special garden. So, I am currently sourcing some garden fencing for this area as it is the only way I can keep it safe but that leaves many different large areas of ordinary garden for him to choose from. What I really need is a repellant that actually works!!! I have been putting his poos in the tiger pits or one the top of the favourite refilled tiger pits to prevent the re-excavation work that he does and this definitely works but it would be nice if I could apply some other more user friendly material. Can anyone help??

So eating is a learned behaviour as well as a need??? Perhaps if pups go on for too long sharing with their litter mates, when they do have to eat alone it becomes scarey to learn a new behaviour ie. eating alone??? Insecurities must obviously play a part in a pup learning to eat by themselves, if not for all pups then for some??

What Sandra said ..... plus let it do its own thing in its own time, ignore it when it exhibits undesireable behaviours, don't pick it up all the time and cuddle it ........plus ensure you take your pup to Puppy Preschool once it has had the 12wks immunisation. .....and then get it out walking so it sees lots of people, noises, environments, etc.

Yes Woodbyne, that is the usual thing that is said when puppies get a bit picky especially when they change owners. I have said it myself. I would say that puppies mostly respond to this but some are quite persistant in not wanting to eat much and of course it can vary between litter mates. It is especially noticeable when you show one that isn't eating well as opposed to one that is a good eater. I wonder if eating is a learned behaviour like many other things and the ones that are light eaters have learned to eat that way????

Thats interesting Dancinbcs, I pretty much do the same thing although the 2 pups I am running on from my last litter couldn't be more different. One is a BIG eater and one eats like a bird. I have started to feed them separately as I will have to monitor the 'bird'. They have been on 2 meals a day from 8weeks old although the big eater always gets more than the 'bird'. The one I have kept from a previous litter was initially a 'bird' and so I started running her with her mum who is a piggy eater. When the competition came into it at about 13wks the 'bird' suddenly got the will to eat and hasn't stopped since. As I said I have seen the appetite or lack of it in litters/pups first hand and I have also read it time and time again here on this forum and I got to wondering how I could understand it better, thereby maybe learning to help the 'birds' more- maybe even being able to avoid a 'bird' situation. I wonder if some foods just don't agree with some pups - but how do you work that one out and is it going to be practical to introduce in a litter situation????

Used VAN for quite a while and it suited most of my dogs but my Dobe boy who suffers from allergies. Switched to BARF and the allergies definitely lessened and the skin improved out of sight. Would not go back to VAN now, even for the ones that were OK on it.

Anyone?

The Furminator just drags out the undercoat but the Coat King will cut some of the hair. Is this what you want to do???

I have had many dogs over the years, raised many litters as well as run on promising pups myself and kept in touch with my puppy buyers and it seems to me that there is a stage that most, not all, but definitely a lot of pups go through that they don't eat well, some seeming to survive on only a mouthful of food a day. I try not to get too worried about it when it happens to one of mine that I am running on however it is concerning and I would prefer not to have to contend with this behaviour as it does have to be managed. I have small/medium sized breed, so I don't know that it would apply to larger breeds with maybe bigger appetites, but I have found that around the 9 week to 16 week stage a certain percentage start eating less and being, shall we say, more selective in what they will eat. My advice to puppy buyers is that just to continue on with the diet the pup has been on as it is well balanced and good quality maybe trying a few alternatives that I suggest. I have found if they chop and change too much it can cause the pup to be a picky eater permanently, however I got to wondering what everyone elses experiences have been with this 'syndrome'??? Normally what I will do is add chicken juices or sardines to their usual mix which sometimes works but not always. Sometimes it is a matter of finding something similar to the diet they have been on, which will be acceptable to them. For instance I have one now that has decided that Dr.B's BARF which they previously loved, is now only worth tasting a little bit and leaving the rest, won't eat much of Advance puppy dry which they loved for 4weeks previously, but thinks chicken necks and Adult Supercoat is now pretty good. Now, normal puppy owners are not going to have the flexability of available diets that I have as an owner of many dogs. The important thing I have concluded is that the pup retains the habit of eating regularly and until their stomach feels full. So what do you all think???? as I read about this problem time and time again on this forum so it is obviously not just me that has seen this happen. Does anyone have a solution or an explanation as to why it happens?????

This kind of behaviour can stem from something as simple as when they were raised in a litter, the breeder loomed over the puppy enclosure and then reached down to pick them/something up. I have seen breeders do this and also seen the puppies crouch away from the incoming hand. It is a real trap breeders need to be aware of especially in small dogs. All subsequent hands reaching down to them only serve to reinforce this response, so you have 5months of reinforcements to get rid of. All puppies should be approached with an outstretched hand under the chin, not on top of the head. It is as simple as that - so in order to get rid of the undesireable behaviour follow the suggestions others have made here and be careful not to reach down with the 'hand'.

For humans magnesium is now considered to be very important rather than just calcium by itself and many naturopaths say that it is more beneficial to take magnesium than plain calcium sups. I asked our repro.vet about this too and he said that was 'a very interesting question' but as yet there is no information out on that but that he would suggest the combination of magnesium & calcium. I know that you can get a vet. supplement that is a combination of calcium and magnesium (don't remember its name) and that is what I will be giving my whelping/nursing bitches in future rather than just the plain Calcium Sandoz/liquid calcium sup.

Yes, I agree, it would be great to read of peoples experiences ie. success or failure with ear glueing however it will still be considered anecdotal. Personally I am actually very pleased to read all these comments from you guys as you appear to be interested in the cause of this problem hopefully without judgement, and it seems to be much more common than I thought. There is no where you can ask these kind of questions - vets certainly don't know!

If someone could say catagorically that ear folds were definitely genetic and not just a one off individual thing then I wouldn't be wanting to glue the ears. Is there anyone who can say this????? And if you can I would be interested to hear what you base your statement on??? It is in a breeders best interests to only breed from the best and I certainly would not want to perpetuate a genetic problem so I await your information on this subject. Edited to add: I have never had this problem before in my breed.

Yep, that would have been my guess although I should think that ear 'placement' probably would be genetic.

Many thanks for all your help guys! As I have never had to glue ears before, what are your thoughts on whether this problem is genetic or 'just one of those things'?

Thanks for that, I was a bit reluctant to leave the ears glued for any extended length of time but it would seem that it is OK to do so.

Ah, so its left on for a month or more??? I tried it for about 10 days but the ears were back in their old formation by the next day. This pup is 16 weeks old now.

What age do you start to glue the ears and how long do you leave them glued for?

How long do you glue for Cowanbree and at what age? Does teething effect the result??